knows how to mesmerize her viewer. With
diaphanous, fluid lines and Impressionistic color
her paintings that fascinates every viewer who seeks to
discern the "subject" of her canvas. Wermes's paintings
incorporate the dream-like qualities of Surrealism with
the color improvisation of Abstract Expressionism. The
mood of her paintings is intense and immediate. Like
Dali, Wermes has the ability to transmit an affecting
emotional dimension to her work by her placement of
shapes and figures that seem to exist outside of time.
Her use of color, with its translucent, layered quality, is
reminiscent of Helen Frankenthaler. Wermes uses color
washes to saturate her canvas--the color becoming the
subject of the painting. The figure or landscape is a latent
feature of the work, while the mood of the piece is made
explicit by Wermes sensitive use of color variation.
but an overt emotional tone. Using pinks, reds, blues
and whites, Wermes paints
what appears to be a heart-
shaped figure sailing on an
ocean. The atmosphere of
the painting is dramatic, but
the combination of warm
and cool colors creates a
balanced
the dynamic reds, a warmth
and purity to the delicate
pink and an ethereal peacefulness conveyed by the blues
and whites. Yet, there is also a dimension of foreboding in
the painting, the deep maroons suggesting blood or trauma
as the heart-figure sails along to it inevitable "fate." The
artist achieves all of these impressions through her soft, sug-
gestive painterly style and bold color groupings.
soft-focus subject. Using black, blue, gray and purple,
Wermes conjures a lonely night. In the foreground
of the painting is the suggestion of a bent flower. The
flower is shrouded in shadow, leaning so far over that
its petals touch the darkest area of the canvas to become
submerged into the night sky. Above the flower is a
small, dark window--the focal point of the painting. This
window seems to radiate darkness. Beyond the bent
flower, the viewer cannot know the shapes and figures
suggested by this nighttime landscape. Instead, Wermes
has granted the viewer a powerful sense of the great
potential contained in the unknown.
for her work in both the U.S. and Mexico. She currently
lives and works in Mexico. -Alison Rogers